2. The Largest Carillon in the World at Riverside Church

In many church belfries you’ll find carillons, musical instruments compromised of bronze bells often played by a keyboard. The carillon at Riverside Church was donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1925 in honor of his mother, with a sister carillon to the Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago. The Riverside Church carillon has 74 bells and when created was the largest carillon in the world, by number of bells. The Riverside Church carillon remains the largest in the world by mass, and includes a 20-ton bourdon bell that hits a low C, the largest and heaviest bourdon ever cast in the world. It measures 10 feet, 2 inches across.

Today, two carillons surpass Riverside Church by number of bells – Kick in the Hills in Michigan and Hyechon College in Korea both carillons with 77 bells. The second largest carillon in New York City after Riverside Church is one at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Harlem.